COBLESKILL MEN PLACE 2ND AT REGION III INDOOR TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP

The SUNY Cobleskill men’s indoor track & field team posted the program’s best finish in regional competition on Sunday posting a team score of 150 points to place second at the 2008 NJCAA Region III Men’s Indoor Track & Field Championship hosted by Region III at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, NY.

The Fighting Tigers captured six individual event championships on the day as senior sprinter David Suarez, Hauppauge, NY, Hauppauge High School, captured the 55 Meter Dash with a time of 6.40 seconds, freshman mid-distance runner Emille Barnett, Huntington, NY, John Glenn High School, captured the 600 Meter Dash with a program record time of 1:25.90, senior sprinter Carlton Wildman, Huntington, NY, John Glenn High School, won the 400 Meter Dash with a time of 53.40 seconds, freshman distance runner Richard Garnett, Yonkers, NY, Roosevelt High School, who won the 1000 Meter Run in 2:45.70, freshman multi-event athlete Aldin Gomez, Westbury, NY, Westbury High School, who took the Triple Jump with a mark of 13.00 Meters and from senior thrower Joe Valentin, Swan Lake, NY, Liberty High School, who won the Weight Throw with a toss of 13.62 meters. For the winning efforts all earned spots on the NJCAA All-Region III Team.

In the relays the Fighting Tiger 4 X 400 Meter Relay of Emille Barnett, Carlton Wildman, freshman Brad Boice, Cambridge, NY, Cambridge High School, and freshman Leon Thompson, Manhattan, NY, Fredrick Douglas Academy, won the event in a time of 3:37.90 to earn NJCAA All-Region Team honors for all relay members. The Cobleskill 4 X 800 Meter Relay of senior Eric Graber, Troy, NY, Lansingburgh High School, freshman Amir Babb, Brooklyn, NY, Canarsie High School, freshman Joe Singer, Onteora, NY, Onteora High School, and Richard Garnett placed second overall to establish a new program record with a time of 8:51.60.

Cobleskill also received strong all-around performances from freshman multi-event athlete Tomas Velasquez, Catskill, NY, Catskill High School, who scored four events placing fourth in the Triple Jump, 12.65 meters, fourth in the Long Jump, 5.81 meters, fifth in the High Jump, 1.73 meters, and fifth in the 400 Meter Dash with a time of 53.80 seconds, and from freshman sprinter/hurdler Jon Figueroa, North Branch, NY, Sullivan West High School, who finished fifth in the 55 Meter Hurdles in 8.40 seconds and in sixth place in the 200 Meter Dash with a time of 24.02 seconds.

The Fighting Tiger distance corps also was a factor in the meet as Eric Graber placed second in the 800 Meter Dash in 2:05.20, freshman distance runner Kevin Wipple, Pine Bush, NY, Pine Bush High School, finished third in the 5000 Meters in 17:06.01, freshman distance runner Dan Bulson, St. Petersburg, NY, Berlin High School, placed sixth in the 3000 Meters in 9:58.00 and senior Jon O’Connor, Deposit, NY, Deposit High School, placed sixth in the Mile Run with a time of 5:03.80.

“This was an excellent team effort by our guys that included some really outstanding individual efforts,” said Fighting Tiger Head Coach Brad Fichthorn. “I definitely think we surprised a number of people with our performance today and that our team has much to be proud of with this effort.”

The Orange & Black will return to action this weekend when they travel to Ithaca, NY on Saturday February 22nd for the 2008 Denault Invitational hosted by Cornell University beginning at 10:00 AM.